How to Clean a Leather Purse

Have you used your quality leather purse for a while and although still constructionally sound is fading from dust and dirt?
You want to learn how to clean a leather purse without spoiling the leather? Is there any chance to rejuvenate your favorite bag?

First check if your purse is made by finished or unfinished leather (like suede). Fortunately, most bags are made by finished leather because unfinished leathers needs to be cleaned by professionals.

A simple test for finished or naked leather is to put a drop of moisture or just a drop of water on the surface of the leather – if it soaks into the leather you have an aniline style (unfinished leather) – a lot of these type of leathers do have a coating of some sort but still remain absorbent to moisture. If the moisture sits on the surface you have a finished leather.

Now, it’s time to meet our enemies. Water, ink, and oil, these three are the kind of stain that easily ruin your expensive and favorite bag.

Water stains
Act quickly – as soon as you detect such a stain, go home and use a slightly damp cloth with a small amount of moisturizing soap over the stain and rub it with smooth circle motions for a few minutes. Then wipe it off and let it dry completely.Ink stains
The worst of all – Use plain rubbing alcohol. Begin by dampening a white cotton pad or cotton swab with the alcohol. Start working from the outside of the stain toward in the middle. Keep the work area small – you do not want to spread it into a bigger area!

Oil stains
Terrible situation – It might have happened to all of us. Use immediately corn starch or salt. It will absorb the oil from the leather. Let it settle for 10-15 minutes and then brush it off with a toothbrush. You can reapply if needed two or three times.

Regardless removing stains from your bag, it is a common practice to clean a leather purse at least twice per year. Of course that depends on how often you use them.

Now that we are done with the cleaning, let’s find out how to remove scratches from leather.
Don’t you just hate to discover new scratches on your bag! Well, I do.
If they are not very deep use a small amount of distilled white vinegar. Put the vinegar in a bowl and moisture a cotton pad with it.
Dab the scratched leather with the cotton pad. Let it dry, then buff the item with a colorless shoe polish. Most of the times this will do the job.

Apply a small amount leather conditioner to scratched area and try to work from outside of the scratch edges toward the center so that edges of scratch blend in as much as possible.
Don’t worry how to use saddle soap as it very easy.
Use a damp sponge with the soap and simply apply it with circular motion on the leather.

If you want to remove any scaring scratches from leather both these are the best products you can find and you’ll be amazed with the results!
Leather items are delicate and sometimes expensive products. With the proper care, it is possible to keep them top condition and enjoy them for many many years.

Side note:
Before starting any cleaning procedure, make a spot testing (by trying it in a less visible part like the back side of your purse) to be sure that the method you have chosen will not damage the leather purse.